Fadillah (left) showing Manyin the location of the the dual carriageway project from Mile 10th to 15th Kuching/Serian Road.
KUCHING: There will be no more bottlenecks once the upgrading of the single carriageway (2 lanes) into dual carriage way (four lanes) from 10th Mile to 15th Mile Kuching/Serian Road is completed by early August 2017.
Works Minister Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof gave this assurance when he announced that the upgrading the of 9.2km dual carriageway project costing RM79.998 million was awarded to Wellfeel Services Sdn Bhd.
“The 10th to 15th mile single carriageway had been a bottleneck for many years even though Mile 15th road from Kuching to Serian Town had been upgraded to dual carriageway in 2005,” he said.
“The upgrading of this project has been long outstanding and its implementation was approved in 2014 by the federal government under the Fourth Rolling Plan of the 10th Malaysia Plan,” he added.
Fadillah was speaking at the launching of the project at the compound of Land Transport Department head office here yesterday.
He explained the project took a long time to start because of the many challenges such as the reserve land for expansion was small and the many utilities infrastructure that had been laid down along the stretch due to the drastic development in the area.
Fadillah further explained it was after an in-depth research by state and federal Public Works Department that all the problems were resolved and a proper design was drawn up for the upgrading and the tender was open.
Fadillah said ownership of the site was handed over to the successful contractor on Nov 10 this year and the project must be completed in 21 months.
The project, he added, entailed building four new bridges and replacing one old bridge, upgrading five junctions along the stretch and constructing five U-turns and one roundabout, among others, to ensure smooth traffic for road users.
He reminded that there would inconveniences during the period of the project but assured road users road safety signs would be put up along the stretch.
Later at the press conference, he updated reporters on the Pan Borneo Highway Project, saying works on the 44 km stretch from Nyabau to Bakun junction was in full swing and was expected to be completed by Oct 2017 despite some issues on land.
He also revealed that the road from Telok Melano to Sematan was in good progress and 11 packages from Kuching to Miri would be tendered out next year.
Earlier before the launching, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication Dato Sri Michael Manyin thanked the federal government for making the upgrading of the dual carriageway a reality.
“We had been waiting for a long time and once completed it will mean less traffic congestion in the area,” he said.
Among those present were deputy secretary in the Works Ministry (Policy and Development Abdul Razak Jaafar, deputy director general of Public Works Department Roslan Mohd Taha, chairman of Pengerusi Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd Tan Sri Ahamad Urai Hakim Abang Mohideen and state director Of Road Transport Department Ibrahim Othman.